Hi, I’m micr0, creator of Altbot, an open-source bot that generates alt-text for images and videos on the Fediverse, with zero data retention.

I’m back from camping. The DDoS is still ongoing, so I need to move Altbot off my home network into professional colocation with enterprise DDoS protection.

We’re at 40% ($1,152 / $2,880). $1,728 to go to lock in 12 months of secure colocation at a proper datacenter.
If you can, please chip in or boost!

Support:

• Ko-fi (goal page): https://ko-fi.com/micr0byte/goal?g=0
• GitHub Sponsors (fewer fees): https://github.com/sponsors/micr0-dev
• ETH: 0xC992E57236eb9F30E79d0469446a6CF08Be05939

I can’t go into personal debt to cover the gap this time around. Thank you all for helping keep #Altbot online and accessible. <3
#Accessibility #Fedi

Hi, I’m micr0, creator of Altbot, an open-source bot that generates alt-text for images and videos on the Fediverse, with zero data retention.

I’m back from camping. The DDoS is still ongoing, so I need to move Altbot off my home network into professional colocation with enterprise DDoS protection.

We’re at 40% ($1,152 / $2,880). $1,728 to go to lock in 12 months of secure colocation at a proper datacenter.
If you can, please chip in or boost!

Support:

• Ko-fi (goal page): https://ko-fi.com/micr0byte/goal?g=0
• GitHub Sponsors (fewer fees): https://github.com/sponsors/micr0-dev
• ETH: 0xC992E57236eb9F30E79d0469446a6CF08Be05939

I can’t go into personal debt to cover the gap this time around. Thank you all for helping keep #Altbot online and accessible. <3
#Accessibility #Fedi

Hi, I'm micr0, the creator of Altbot.

Almost a year ago, your incredible generosity helped us raise the funds to buy the server that Altbot runs on today (locally and privately) It's been operating from my home ever since, and I'm so grateful for the support that made that possible.

But now, the situation has become unsustainable. My home network is under a sustained, targeted DDoS attack aimed at taking Altbot offline. And unfortunatly this isn't just a threat to the bot, it's a serious security and privacy concern for my family.

A lot of people are probabaly going to be asking the same question I did: "Who is doing this?"
but the honest answer is: I don't know, and I likely never will. These attacks are launched through botnets and proxies designed specifically to hide the source. Figuring out the "who" is nearly impossible. The only thing I can do is focus on the "how to stop it."

Running this critical service from a residential address is no longer viable. To protect Altbot and my family, we need to move the server to a professional data center with proper, enterprise DDoS mitigation.

The Goal: $2,880 to cover 12 months of secure colocation.

This will provide a secure, stable home for Altbot with:

• Enterprise-grade DDoS protection
• 99.95%+ uptime guarantee
• 24/7 monitoring and security
• Separation from my personal home network

Donations can be made via:

• Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/micr0byte/goal?g=0
• GitHub Sponsors: https://github.com/sponsors/micr0-dev (More direct, Fewer fees)
• Ethereum: 0xC992E57236eb9F30E79d0469446a6CF08Be05939

This isn't just about maintaining a service. It's about ensuring that an important accessibility tool remains available for everyone who depends on it, while also protecting my family's privacy and safety.

Please consider supporting if you can. If you're unable to donate, boosts are incredibly valuable for raising awareness.

Thank you for your support and for believing in Altbot's mission.

#Altbot #Accessibility

Hi, I'm micr0, the creator of Altbot.

Almost a year ago, your incredible generosity helped us raise the funds to buy the server that Altbot runs on today (locally and privately) It's been operating from my home ever since, and I'm so grateful for the support that made that possible.

But now, the situation has become unsustainable. My home network is under a sustained, targeted DDoS attack aimed at taking Altbot offline. And unfortunatly this isn't just a threat to the bot, it's a serious security and privacy concern for my family.

A lot of people are probabaly going to be asking the same question I did: "Who is doing this?"
but the honest answer is: I don't know, and I likely never will. These attacks are launched through botnets and proxies designed specifically to hide the source. Figuring out the "who" is nearly impossible. The only thing I can do is focus on the "how to stop it."

Running this critical service from a residential address is no longer viable. To protect Altbot and my family, we need to move the server to a professional data center with proper, enterprise DDoS mitigation.

The Goal: $2,880 to cover 12 months of secure colocation.

This will provide a secure, stable home for Altbot with:

• Enterprise-grade DDoS protection
• 99.95%+ uptime guarantee
• 24/7 monitoring and security
• Separation from my personal home network

Donations can be made via:

• Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/micr0byte/goal?g=0
• GitHub Sponsors: https://github.com/sponsors/micr0-dev (More direct, Fewer fees)
• Ethereum: 0xC992E57236eb9F30E79d0469446a6CF08Be05939

This isn't just about maintaining a service. It's about ensuring that an important accessibility tool remains available for everyone who depends on it, while also protecting my family's privacy and safety.

Please consider supporting if you can. If you're unable to donate, boosts are incredibly valuable for raising awareness.

Thank you for your support and for believing in Altbot's mission.

#Altbot #Accessibility

Hi, I'm micr0, the creator of Altbot.

Almost a year ago, your incredible generosity helped us raise the funds to buy the server that Altbot runs on today (locally and privately) It's been operating from my home ever since, and I'm so grateful for the support that made that possible.

But now, the situation has become unsustainable. My home network is under a sustained, targeted DDoS attack aimed at taking Altbot offline. And unfortunatly this isn't just a threat to the bot, it's a serious security and privacy concern for my family.

A lot of people are probabaly going to be asking the same question I did: "Who is doing this?"
but the honest answer is: I don't know, and I likely never will. These attacks are launched through botnets and proxies designed specifically to hide the source. Figuring out the "who" is nearly impossible. The only thing I can do is focus on the "how to stop it."

Running this critical service from a residential address is no longer viable. To protect Altbot and my family, we need to move the server to a professional data center with proper, enterprise DDoS mitigation.

The Goal: $2,880 to cover 12 months of secure colocation.

This will provide a secure, stable home for Altbot with:

• Enterprise-grade DDoS protection
• 99.95%+ uptime guarantee
• 24/7 monitoring and security
• Separation from my personal home network

Donations can be made via:

• Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/micr0byte/goal?g=0
• GitHub Sponsors: https://github.com/sponsors/micr0-dev (More direct, Fewer fees)
• Ethereum: 0xC992E57236eb9F30E79d0469446a6CF08Be05939

This isn't just about maintaining a service. It's about ensuring that an important accessibility tool remains available for everyone who depends on it, while also protecting my family's privacy and safety.

Please consider supporting if you can. If you're unable to donate, boosts are incredibly valuable for raising awareness.

Thank you for your support and for believing in Altbot's mission.

#Altbot #Accessibility

Never thought I would be making one of these posts to be honest, but Altbot had an outage for about a day because my VPS tunnel just completely died on me. I can't even connect to it anymore.

Altbot is back online now but running on backup infrastructure (aka "crutches"). Between being sick with a fever and my car's A/C deciding to break (several thousand $ to fix :/), it's been a rough week to say the least.
I really need to upgrade Altbot to a more reliable VPS setup. If you value having Altbot around and can spare some support, it would mean the world to me:

GitHub Sponsors: https://github.com/sponsors/micr0-dev
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/micr0byte
ETH: 0xC992E57236eb9F30E79d0469446a6CF08Be05939

also looking for a VPS with high bandwidth (3TB+/month) or unlimited. im sick and tired of cheaping out on a VPS and then that being the failure point of my whole infrastructure. any suggestions appreciated!

thanks for your patience during the outage and for helping make the Fediverse more accessible! <3
#Altbot #Accessibility#Fediverse#Support #MutualAidRequest #mutualaid

Never thought I would be making one of these posts to be honest, but Altbot had an outage for about a day because my VPS tunnel just completely died on me. I can't even connect to it anymore.

Altbot is back online now but running on backup infrastructure (aka "crutches"). Between being sick with a fever and my car's A/C deciding to break (several thousand $ to fix :/), it's been a rough week to say the least.
I really need to upgrade Altbot to a more reliable VPS setup. If you value having Altbot around and can spare some support, it would mean the world to me:

GitHub Sponsors: https://github.com/sponsors/micr0-dev
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/micr0byte
ETH: 0xC992E57236eb9F30E79d0469446a6CF08Be05939

also looking for a VPS with high bandwidth (3TB+/month) or unlimited. im sick and tired of cheaping out on a VPS and then that being the failure point of my whole infrastructure. any suggestions appreciated!

thanks for your patience during the outage and for helping make the Fediverse more accessible! <3
#Altbot #Accessibility#Fediverse#Support #MutualAidRequest #mutualaid

As someone who is totally blind, the Fediverse is the only place where I have ever been able to follow people such as photographers, artists, or even those who post pictures of their cats or the food they ate. The reason is that most of them use alt text. They take the time to describe the images that my screen reader can't recognise. Some write the descriptions themselves, and others use tools such as altbot. Some worry that their descriptions aren't good enough, especially when they are new at this. Let me assure you, not only are they good enough, they are extremely appreciated! If the rest of the world thought as you did, it would be a much better place. Don't hesitate to ask if you're unsure of something, but never think that we don't notice your effort.

#appreciation #accessibility #altbot #alttext #blind #blindness #fediverse #gratitude #images #inclusivity #peoplewhocare #pictures #technology